Kakeizu 家系図
by Kamikashi
Summary: The price of a life that is no longer of this world is too heavy for any existing human to pay. But what of the future that must be and relies on that life to be returned? And when the life that has been stolen is returned, what then?


**Kakeizu** **家系図**

 **XxxHolic One Shot fiction**

 **Pairing: Yûko/Kimihiro**

 **AN: Kakeizu 家系図: (Japanese) _n_ Family Tree, genealogic chart**

 **I always wanted to write a Y/K story, and this style was inspired from reading "Days of the Week" by _nitpickernose_. Unlike _Days_ however, this one is in chronological order, like a tree growing from the earth.**

 **AN 2: I've had this on my pc for _ages_ but never got around to finishing it, so, after I finally did, here you go!**

* * *

 **根 (Ne) – Root, Origin**

Despite her being the Dimensional Witch and him being an apprentice sorcerer of the same art, they are still very much humans, and so, in this land of kami, they dance to tunes your kind makes, in accordance with the Great One that thought up all that is, was, will be, must not, and could have been (and you still wonder why he allows your existence if some other religions claim that there's nothing _divine_ besides the Great One). But, this is your land, and they are amongst your worshippers.

True, she is from a totally different time, and frankly, way overdue by now in a way, but if Izanami and Shinigami themselves tell you that her time was essentially stolen, all the rules are out of the window. And you, who lords over the foxes, the rice, produce, business and Jizo with his children, and know what fate has to come if the foundations shall stay unshaken, decides she that she shall live, as the immortal she was supposed to be anyway. Furthermore, the moon, Tsukuyomi-no-Mikoto, who lords over all of time in this land of yours, agrees, and, after the Stormed Sea, Susanoo, has captured the Time Thief, you thank your fellow kami, and set your ways in motion, stirring the land in a way only you can.

But you know she will refuse, and so, when you summon them to your main shrine in Fushimi you tell her, if not for her sake, then for his, and the future she will bring. So you say, Inari Ôkami, and glare at her with eyes of a white fox until she bows to you. After all, Ichihara Yûko is a loyal servant of hitsuzen, and when you reveal to her that this is theirs, she will accept it and follow it without question.

And then you smile, allowing yourself to switch from the angry old man over the foxy child to the megami, knowing all too well that both of them have been harbouring this hope – not a wish, but a longing hope – for longer than they have had realised themselves, and, as they are already here, you use your might and your connections to summon their friends and your kannushi. And then, you watch with the smile only a kami or one of the Great One's servants will give when two are bound together to become one fate, Sansankudo to honour that fate and you. And then, when the ceremony of matrimony is done, you tell them, "Blessed Be.", and grin the ironic smile your fox servants love to imitate, reminding them that thanking you is done by building a new Torii on this mountain, bring sake and fried tofu for the foxes, and grin even wider when they promise solemnly to honour you when the time comes. And this time, you grin because the Reading Moon sent you a vision of the long list of descendants that will follow your interference with these two immortals.

 **初代(Shodai) – Founding Generation, Trunk**

Even a month and a half after your meeting with the kami _**Inari**_ , your head is still swirling from all that happened in the shrine's main hall – your wedding to your employer/master/friend/crush and now beloved wife, the kami revealing that the fate Yûko (you were kind of surprised to find out that her name was actually that, just with a different writing than she used normally) has believed for herself to be inevitable for so long was actually false because someone didn't just kill her back then, but also steal her _time_ … time she finally got back, and to find that she was now truly immortal due to her numerous good deeds, and you will one day be just like her … you just think it might be too much for you to handle.

But then again, this is neither here nor there, and certainly not today, as, while you have long since left behind the scrawny teen of 19 you've been, you haven't reached truly the heart of a man yet, even if your first night being intimate with her (and the many that followed and will follow) has remedied quite a bit of that. No, it is your power of as a sorcerer that isn't quite there yet, and so, you work hard to become that man the Rice kami has seen in the future. But somehow, you also know that your life will be a constant line of hard work with her by your side – the kami they owe this 'blessed' you, and for some reason, you are worried about the blessing, but you just cannot pinpoint why, at least not yet.

Anyway, you still go about your daily duties, cooking dinner with all your heart, even more for her than before, knowing that your feelings and your magic will seep into your work, and serve it with a bottle of Eight Purification Sake and a loving smile.

Knowing how much she loves her sake and her food in combination, you are duly surprised when she is eating only tentatively and refusing the alcohol, in fact, when you offer her to change the golden sake for a different alcoholic beverage, she refuses adamantly and asks you to get her purified water instead. When you hear that – and she tells you that yes, it's for drinking – you know that something is off, and then, sensitive as you are to life and death, you feel it, and you hear it, that small giggle you had put off as the bell that sometimes accompanies your Izuna familiar, Mugetsu. Excited, you ask her, trailing off, and, as she nods numbly, you, so unlike the 19-year-old who hated himself, you simply pull her to yourself and whisper in all the languages you've learnt how much you love her, and when she tells you how scared she is, it is the first time you don't feel like a boy barely out of his teens outside the privacy of your shared rooms in her presence, but the man you are on the verge of becoming. And you cannot help but feel that heart of yours overflowing, both in gratitude and happiness, and resolve to bring that offering to the foxy kami who played matchmaker for you first thing in the morning.

 **枝(Eda) – Branch, offshoot**

It was dinner time when you told him that the tree that is their house has grown big enough to grow a branch, an offshoot, and despite you being ancient and his teacher, as a woman, you were insecure about bringing a child – his child and yours – into this world until he showered you with declarations of happiness and love because of your state.

Seven and a half moons later, you are full of them – twins – and, despite it being heavy and hot and uncomfortable, you wouldn't change this for the world, even knowing you would outlive them, as out of time as you are, as every _hair_ on your head overflows with love and peace and … _happiness_ at the prospect, despite being still scared of all that is to come. And whenever you think of your fears, you can't help but feel ridiculous – you, who faces gods and demons every day, scared of raising children – and you feel immensely grateful that he will always appear in a flash (sometimes literally; their love had given him a power boost), soothing your body and silencing the fears with his love.  
When your body then signals on the day of the full moon that it is time for the first time to pay the price for Inari Ôkami's generosity – giving life – it is your husband that stays calm, so unlike the panicky teen he once was, guiding you through the long, arduous hours of labour; and, when midnight strikes and the moon shines on your house, you give birth to a girl and a boy with a smile on your face, for he is here. Before you fall asleep while nursing the twins, it occurs to you that this might be an even greater test of your person than any monster of the week or ridiculous wish you've dealt with so far … and that you can hardly wait for your house to burst with Inari's blessings.

Time passes, and time flies, and as your firstborn grow, more life grows from you and him, and you can't help but wonder if this new life of yours isn't built to amuse Inari. But then again, when once more your nights are filled with such ecstasy and his and their smiles warm your once lonely heart like an ocean of stars, you decide that bearing the burdens of growing them from yourself, from a tiny twig into a mighty branch of your _kakeizu_ is well worth it. (Besides, you are not sure if any kind of protection will work – it seems that your childbearing ability has a mind of its own, with years of nothing happening.)

And as you can't help but cry when your first two are to be laid to eternal rest, he, your alter ego indeed, is straight by your side, as he always is, crying with you.

 **木乃葉(Konoha) – Leaves, descendants**

You're getting married today. _Married_. Okay, that's enough to have most people, men and women alike, go half-crazy, and you are crazy enough to marry the _imperial crown princess_ of Japan. And this is why you're standing in the middle of a shrine's side room, being put together by an entire team of dressers and stylists, all in a hazy stupor, with the thought _You're getting married today_ running on an infinite loop through your head, and you wonder how you manage to actually drink the blessed sake, give your vows, surrender your family name _and_ offer a tamagushi, but you do, and when the procession leaves, you have to use every ounce of self-control you possess to not grin like an idiot – after all, you're now Prince Kimihiro, prince consort …

It is then, when they have you and your bride walk through the courtyard of the shrine that you notice _them_. Ageless as the gods, they stand there, resplendent in kimono marked with their seals of magic – the butterfly and the bird … but something about your great-grandmother makes you do a double-take. As you continue to observe her though, it becomes obvious why; the bulge of her quickening is unmistakable, even at this distance. Suppressing a chuckle, you carry on. The kakeizu was still growing, and you would do your own part to satisfy Inari Ôkami, adding more leaves to your branch.


End file.
